<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Taking Probiotics to the Extreme - Reseeding the Microflora Garden

We have all heard the stories of terminally ill patients with severe
autoimmune diseases or cancers, such as leukemia, being cured by life-
saving bone marrow transplants... their afflicted bone marrow deliberately
destroyed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy and replaced with bone marrow
from a healthy matching donor.  What if that same strategy were applied to
debilitating pernicious mixes of microflora in our guts?  What if our gut
microflora were deliberately destroyed by antibiotics and replaced by an
infusion of fecal microflora from a healthy screened donor?  Would our
illness be cured?

I have been proposing that celiac disease may be triggered by activation of
T cells presented with peptides and immune signals from an unidentified gut
bacteria which is able to internalize gluten peptides.  See:

Finding Gluten Peptides Inside Bacteria - Part 1
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0406b&L=celiac&P=6248

Finding Gluten Peptides Inside Bacteria - Part 2
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0406b&L=celiac&P=6114

If such a gluten-internalizing bacteria is found, what is the next step?
Can an antibiotic very specific to that bacteria be developed and used to
eliminate that bacteria from the guts of celiacs and cure celiac disease?
Or, after years of chaos caused by undiagnosed celiac disease, other
illnesses, acquired autoimmune disorders, antibiotic use, etc., have the
microflora been so deleteriously altered that the elimination of only one
bad bacteria still leaves the gut with a noxious batch of bacteria
continuing to play havoc with one's well-being?

Perhaps the cure for celiac disease is "fecal bacteriotherapy" or "fecal
transfusion".  This intriguing concept has already been put into practice,
with some very promising results.  Fecal microflora donated by healthy,
screened, HLA-DQ2 or -DQ8, individuals with no sign of celiac disease might
be used to regenerate the microflora anew in the guts of celiacs, curing
celiac disease and restoring full health and well-being.

Farfetched?  Checkout these links and abstracts:

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The Fecal Transfusion Foundation
http://www.fecaltransfusionfoundation.org/about.html

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American Journal of Gastroenterology 2000 Nov;95(11):3028-3029

"Flora Power" - Fecal Bacteria Cure Chronic C. difficile Diarrhea

Thomas J. Borody, M.D., F.R.A.C.P., F.A.C.G.

http://www-east.elsevier.com/ajg/issues/9511/ajg3277edi.htm

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J Clin Gastroenterol. 2004 Jul;38(6):475-483.

Bacteriotherapy Using Fecal Flora: Toying With Human Motions.

Borody TJ, Warren EF, Leis SM, Surace R, Ashman O, Siarakas S.

Centre for Digestive Diseases, Sydney; Probiotic Therapy Research Centre,
Sydney; and Department of Microbiology, Concord Repatriation General
Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

The intestinal flora may play a key role in the pathogenesis of certain
gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Components of bowel flora such as
Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus have long been used
empirically as therapeutic agents for GI disorders. More complex
combinations of probiotics for therapeutic bacteriotherapy have also
recently become available, however the most elaborate mix of human-derived
probiotic bacteria is, by definition, the entire fecal flora. Fecal
bacteriotherapy uses the complete normal human flora as a therapeutic
probiotic mixture of living organisms. This type of bacteriotherapy has a
longstanding history in animal health and has been used sporadically
against chronic infections of the bowel, especially as a treatment of last
resort for patients with severe Clostridium difficile syndromes including
recurrent diarrhea, colitis, and pseudomembranous colitis. Encouraging
results have also been observed following infusions of human fecal flora in
patients with inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and
chronic constipation. The therapeutic use of fecal bacteriotherapy is
reviewed here and possible mechanisms of action and potential applications
explored. Published reports on fecal bacteriotherapy are few in number, and
detail the results of small uncontrolled open studies and case reports.
Nevertheless, given the promising clinical responses, formal research into
fecal bacteriotherapy is now warranted.

PMID: 15220681 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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J Clin Gastroenterol. 2003 Jul;37(1):42-7.

Treatment of ulcerative colitis using fecal bacteriotherapy.

Borody TJ, Warren EF, Leis S, Surace R, Ashman O.

Centre for Digestive Diseases, 144 Great North Rd, Five Dock NSW 2046,
Australia. [log in to unmask]

BACKGROUND: Although the etiology of idiopathic ulcerative colitis (UC)
remains poorly understood, the intestinal flora is suspected to play an
important role. Specific, consistent abnormalities in flora composition
peculiar to UC have not yet been described, however Clostridium difficile
colitis has been cured by the infusion of human fecal flora into the colon.
This approach may also be applicable to the treatment of UC on the basis of
restoration of flora imbalances. GOAL: To observe the clinical,
colonoscopic and histologic effects of human probiotic infusions (HPI) in 6
selected patients with UC. CASE REPORTS: Six patients (3 men and 3 women
aged 25-53 years) with UC for less than 5 years were treated with HPI. All
patients had suffered severe, recurrent symptoms and UC had been confirmed
on colonoscopy and histology. Fecal flora donors were healthy adults who
were extensively screened for parasites and bacterial pathogens. Patients
were prepared with antibiotics and oral polyethylene glycol lavage. Fecal
suspensions were administered as retention enemas within 10 minutes of
preparation and the process repeated daily for 5 days. By 1 week post-HPI
some symptoms of UC had improved. Complete reversal of symptoms was
achieved in all patients by 4 months post-HPI, by which time all other UC
medications had been ceased. At 1 to 13 years post-HPI and without any UC
medication, there was no clinical, colonoscopic, or histologic evidence of
UC in any patient. CONCLUSIONS: Colonic infusion of donor human intestinal
flora can reverse UC in selected patients. These anecdotal results support
the concept of abnormal bowel flora or even a specific, albeit
unidentified, bacterial pathogen causing UC.

Publication Types:
Case Reports

PMID: 12811208 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *